Learning To Rest. Not To Quit.
"If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit."
The words of anonymous English graffiti artist and political activist Banksy, have been resonating this last week as I’ve struggled returning to California, readjusting to a life back in the city, and doing my best not to be overwhelmed by this new reality.
Relentless work deadlines and demands on my time, coupled with a recent undiagnosed health issue, have left me wanting to throw in the towel, quit it all, and hide under the covers until September.
The only thing I could manage to do, was sit.
And in my morning meditations, the only insight I could hear was “Stop.”
So in this time where everything just feels like moving through mud, I’ve made a few simple adjustments to help me step away from the urge to quit, find space to rest; in other words go from "GAH" to "ahhhh..."
Step off the mat and sit on the cushion.
The yoga mat is packed away and replaced with a quiet sit for 10-15 minutes a day, followed by a gentle stretch. This has helped clear my thoughts, and given my exhausted body a much-needed break.
Read for pleasure not for knowledge.
I’m a veracious consumer of wine news, both consumer and trade (blame the day job). But that too is work. So instead at night I’m switching off the wine brain for gentler and more pleasurable reading pursuits, in tangible, printed form.
Swap the wine glass for a tea cup.
I miss sharing glasses of wine with friends, but a strung-out digestive system is no place for the demands of alcohol metabolism. So it’s dinner with medicinal and herbal teas - my current favorites are the Organic India, Tulsi Sweet Rose and Republic of Tea SuperAdapt Stress Suppress.
Double down on vitamins
My diet is incomplete without supplements that support my GI and stress management, so as I wrote last year, my supplements are getting a workout: Go With Your Gut: Five Supplements to Help with Digestion and Stress.
Resting also means not overthinking things, including this post.
So I’m here to remind myself (and you), that it’s enough just to be here, to surround yourself with beauty and love, and finally, to rest.
Thanks Banksy, I’m not quitting just yet.
Namaste,
Beck
What We're Reading:
There is no shortage of wine news, and here's what has piqued our interest this week.
I'd Made an Uneasy Peace With My Job As a Sommelier. Then I Lost My Sense of Smell – Amanda Smeltz for Esquire.com
New York-based sommelier Amanda Smeltz on how the beauty of wine will be wasted on the wealthy, even after the pandemic.
'It's time the wine industry stopped taking safe stances to keep its primarily white audience comfortable' - Fiona Beckett for The Guardian.com
The wine world needs to recognize the growing demand and desire for representation from black consumers.
3 Science Backed Tips for Fighting your Social Distancing Fatigue – FastCompany.com
As the pandemic drags on, people are tired of social distancing—but the need remains. Psychology provides answers for how to best fight this crisis fatigue.
Can meditation reduce implicit bias? - Sara Shah for Insider.com
How mindfulness may be an important step for individual reflection.
How wine can stop its return to an era of snoot – Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher for GrapeCollective.com
“In any customer-facing part of any business, knowledge must be combined with caring about service, truly seeing people and hearing them.”
Meet the Community!
Our community is only as strong as the company we keep, and here we meet some of the folks who make our profession so dynamic.
Photo Credit: Sophia Angelina Photography
Martha Wright, Founder and Sobriety Coach at Clear Power Coaching, and Co-Founder, Caveau Selections (Oregon, USA)
Years in the Industry
Early in my career, I worked on fundraisers with Emeril Lagasse, and then as marketing and business development director for Food Network chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. My husband and I founded Scott Paul Wines in Oregon, in 1999 and began importing wines as Caveau Selections in 2006. So for 20 years, I wore those typical hats of the small-family winery – sales rep, bookkeeper, tasting room staff, harvest crew, event host, etc.
My Biggest Challenge to Wellness
Born and raised in New Orleans, and then 25+ years in food & wine, I was 51-years old before I ever took the time to really examine my relationship with alcohol. By the time I did, I was already in a place where I felt a Groundhog Day loop of overdrinking or mindless drinking followed by middle of the night worry and beating up on myself. I stayed stuck in that pattern because I didn’t see a different way modeled. The cultural norm is that you’re a normal drinker or you have a problem.
I was looking for external permission or doctor’s orders to question what I should have felt free to question. Finally I decided it didn’t matter what an online quiz could tell me or whether or not everyone around me was drinking the same as I was. I decided the only question I needed to ask was “how do I feel?” I just wish I’d asked sooner. And the honest answer was that I felt some cognitive issues, sleep problems and just generally didn’t feel that alcohol and menopause were going to play nice together.
How I Keep It Together To Stay Well
I did Annie Grace's science-backed self-guided 30-day alcohol break last year and felt so much reclaimed confidence and motivation that I jumped into a sobriety/mindful drinking coaching certification program.
Now that I’m helping clients find or reconnect with their thriving selves, I get to consider all types of exercise, mindfulness studies, joy-cultivation work as job-related research and training. It’s just a mind shift. Instead of I have to work out, it’s I get to work out or I get to take a mindfulness break.
Reducing the feeling of needing to take the edge off after a long day – that work begins with a morning routine and breaks throughout the day. And scheduling my week is key. I’m new to this but I’m doing better than I used to. So now I drink. Or not. I mostly don’t.
I’m also incredibly bullish about the burgeoning non-alcoholic beverage market. I order and taste-test products from all over, including some awesome ones produced here in Portland, Oregon. I don’t feel that I’ve lost my drinking privilege or that I’m exiting the wine world. I feel like I get to be part of a conversation about how to make it a better drinking culture with more robust options and ways of making it inviting for a more diverse audience.
